Law Commons^™

After Seattle: Public International Organizations, Non-Governmental Organizations (Ngos), And Democratic Legitimacy In An Era Of Globalization: An Essay In Contested Legitimacy, Kenneth Anderson

Working Papers

This working monograph (about 120,000 words) analyzes the relationship between public international organizations such as the United Nations system and international non-governmental organizations under conditions of globalization.It argues that international organizations and international NGOs are locked in an embrace of mutual legitimation, each giving the other important political legitimacy, in favor of liberal internationalism and at the expense of democratic sovereignty. The monograph argues that the legitimacy that each gives the other is based on flawed assumptions about the nature of civil society and "international civil society," on the one hand, and global governance and the possibilities of international, global …

Two Centuries Of Participation: Ngos And International Governance, Steve Charnovitz

Michigan Journal of International Law

This article explores the past and present role of NGOs in international governance. Part One reviews the history of NGO involvement, focusing on the period between 1775 and 1949. It shows how NGO activism helped to engender international organizations. Part Two examines some key issues that arise from the expanding involvement of NGOs. It catalogs the pros and cons of an active NGO role, discusses various functions that NGOs fulfill, and lists ten techniques of NGO participation. Part Two also considers a hypothesis that NGO involvement is cyclical.

The Role Of The Organization Of African Unity (Oau) In Regional Conflict Resolution And Dispute Settlement, Peter Mweti Munya

LLM Theses and Essays

The emergence of an artificially constructed modern state with internal contradictions, sophisticated state apparatus, and weaponry, coupled with external forces has made Africa one of the most unstable regions in the world, and peace prospects a daunting task. The post-cold war era punctuated by forces of economic liberalization and dominance of the Breton Woods institutions in the economic management of the developing countries has not only accelerated the economic marginalization of Africa placing her at the fringes of the global economy but also wrought insecurity in their wake. This post-cold war and serves to emphasize the need for the OAU …

"Green Helmets": A Conceptual Framework For Security Council Authority In Environmental Emergencies, Linda A. Malone

Michigan Journal of International Law

Although 1995 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the birth of the United Nations, the year also marks the fifth anniversary of a newly revitalized Security Council. In this period of five years, scholarly debate on the Security Council has shifted from what it might do if it could act to what substantive limits, if any, exist on the Security Council's authority to act under the Charter. The legitimacy of the Security Council's authority under the Charter arises both in its initial determination of when it can act and in its determination of the appropriate scope of its actions once it …

The Right To Self-Defense Once The Security Council Takes Action, Malvina Halberstam

Michigan Journal of International Law

This article discusses the views of these commentators in the light of the language, history, and policies underlying Article 51. It concludes that the Charter was not intended to and should not be interpreted to deny a state the right of self-defense, even if the Security Council has taken measures to deal with the problem; if states are to cede their right to self-defense once the Security Council has taken measures, that should be made explicit.

The Place Of Law In Collective Security, Martti Koskenniemi

Michigan Journal of International Law

In this article the author wants to examine the place of law in our thinking about and sometimes participation in decision-making regarding international security. After the end of the Cold War, and particularly since the United Nations' reaction to Iraq's occupation of Kuwait in 1990-91, an academic debate concerning the possibility of collective security has arisen anew. The intention is not to take a definite view in that controversy. Instead, the author shall suggest that this debate has been framed so as to obscure the role of normative considerations, including law, in the production or construction of collective security. A …

What's The Security Council For?, Jose E. Alvarez

Michigan Journal of International Law

Students of the literature on the Security Council will recognize in these articles and essays, selected by the Journal's editors for this symposium issue, many representative strands in that ever-burgeoning literature. Although the Journal's editors accepted these articles and essays on an individual basis and no author was afforded the opportunity to read or react to others' contributions, the results are a fascinating counterpoint of views nonetheless. At times, it seems as if the contributors are reacting to each other's work.

The "Privatization" Of Security Council Enforcement Action: A Threat To Multilateralism, John Quigley

Michigan Journal of International Law

In-the post-Cold War period, the United Nations Security Council has emerged from a side show of international politics to center stage. It has acted to repel aggression, to promote humanitarian efforts, and to enforce democracy. This flowering of activity holds the potential for achieving concerted international action to remedy situations involving great human misery.

Legal Restraints On Security Council Military Enforcement Action, Judith G. Gardam

Michigan Journal of International Law

This article considers an issue that, given its importance for the protection of combatants and civilians in armed conflict, has not attracted the attention it warrants: namely, the extent to which legal restraints derived from the ius in bello and the ius ad bellum apply to the Security Council when it is taking military enforcement action under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter. Although a position not free from controversy, the recent practice of the Security Council in "authorizing" States to use force to restore international peace and security is treated as military enforcement action under Chapter VII of …

Caught Between Traditions: The Security Council In Philosophical Conundrum, David P. Fidler

Michigan Journal of International Law

In Part I of this article, I provide a discussion about the use of traditions of thought in international relations. Part II begins by briefly examining the fundamental purpose of the Security Council – the maintenance of international peace, and security. I then analyze the philosophical origins of the idea of maintaining international peace and security through an international organization to demonstrate how liberal thought on international relations came to incorporate this idea. In this analysis, I will demonstrate that liberal thought on the appropriateness of relying on international organizations to maintain peace and security is not unified and that …

Setting A New Agenda For U.N. Human Rights Activities, Hurst Hannum

Michigan Journal of International Law

Review of The United Nations and Human Rights: A Critical Appraisal (Philip Alston ed.)

The Theory And Practice Of Regional Organization Intervention In Civil Wars, Christopher J. Borgen

Faculty Publications

The United Nations' reach in peacekeeping is fast outdistancing its grasp. Spread across seventeen countries, the U.N.’s over 80,000 civilian and military personnel monitor cease-fires, protect aid convoys, and separate warring parties. As the U.N. extends its arms, financial resources seem to slip through its fingers like grains of sand. In short, the U.N. lacks the resources to continue increasing its peacekeeping responsibilities.

In An Agenda for Peace (Agenda), Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali proposes that part of the solution to the economic problems of the U.N. lies in reconsidering how regional organizations interact with the U.N., a suggestion which revisits a …

Measuring Freedom? The Undp Human Freedom Index, Lisa J. Bernt

Michigan Journal of International Law

Part I of this Note describes and compares the Humana index and the UNDP's Human Freedom Index. Part II surveys some of the criticism of the Human Freedom Index since its publication in May 1991, and identifies fundamental problems with the manner in which the Human Freedom Index was prepared and presented. This Note concludes with recommendations for refining and presenting such an index in future years.

Soft Law And The International Law Of The Environment, Pierre-Marie Dupuy

Michigan Journal of International Law

Because the existing body of international environmental law has, in part, emerged on the basis of "soft" norms, it provides a good field for observing the general sociological and juridical phenomenon termed "soft" law. The 1972 Stockholm Declaration adopted by the UN Conference on the Human Environment, for example, constitutes the normative program for the world community 'in this field. Although, from a formal point of view, the Declaration is only a nonbinding resolution, many of its "principles," particularly Principle 21, have been relied upon by governments to justify their legal rights and duties. The subsequent State practice has been, …

Legal Remedies And The United Nations' À La Carte Problem, Jose E. Alvarez

Michigan Journal of International Law

This article reexamines recent U.S. withholdings of its assessed regular contributions to the UN, as well as the premises and assumptions underlying the theory that a UN member may legally and unilaterally withhold payments for ultra vires acts by the organization. The issue is of considerable consequence since, despite recent rhetoric, the number of members financially supporting the UN through timely payments of regular contributions number only about half the membership, payments. These practices undermine the basic doctrine of "collective financial responsibility" and threaten the survival of international organizations. Reexamination is timely since the lessening of ideological divisions at the …

The National Security Of The United States As The Host State For The United Nations, Elisabeth Zoller

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

The "Corporate Will" Of The United Nations And The Rights Of The Minority, Elisabeth Zoller

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

The Interrelationship Between United Nations Law And The Law Of Other International Organizations, Richard H. Lauwaars

Michigan Law Review

The question regarding the interrelationship between UN law and the law of other international organizations acquired actual significance in the Netherlands in the spring of 1983. At that time, the Dutch Government published a Note stating that, due to the strictures of international law embodied in the law of the European Economic Community (EEC) and European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the Benelux Economic Union, and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), it could not impose unilateral sanctions against South Africa. In response to this Note, a group of public international law professors in the Netherlands issued a …